Asian Motor Sports

After a long debate, the Indonesia Motorsports Association, or IMI, decided there will be no driver selection for the A1 Grand Prix Indonesia, scheduled for Feb. 6-8 at the Lippo Village street circuit.

Irawan Sucahyono, head of the IMI sports department, said after talking to Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Adhyaksa Dault, the IMI decided to focus on making the event successful.

“In the last meeting with the minister, there was no discourse about driver selection,” Irawan said. “We’re just talking about how to stage the event.”

The decision, or lack of one, means A1Team Indonesia will retain its current drivers, Satrio Hermanto and Zahir Ali.

Last month, the IMI said it would not issue an approval letter for the A1GP Indonesia series if Team Indonesia didn’t hold driver selections before the race.

But the claim was dismissed by A1GP CEO Pete Da Silva, and the IMI then issued the inscription to FIA. The IMI came to understand that responsibilities for different aspects of the event are clearly divided, Irawan said.

“The race organizer and team management are two different entities. Lippo, as the organizer, is responsible for preparing all facilities,” Irawan said. “And A1 Team Indonesia and A1 International management will take care of team business.”

In the meantime, circuit construction is still on schedule. The pit building has been erected in the front of Pelita Harapan University, while road construction is taking shape.

Lippo Karawaci senior executive Gordon Benton said all projects will finish on schedule.

“There’s no plan B, but I’m sure the construction will be finished two weeks before the event in order to allow FIA delegates to inspect the track,” Benton said.

He also said Adhyaksa offered his full support for the event. “We already met the minister, and he accepted our invitation to be patron of the event and pledged to offer his full support.”

The FIA had already approved the circuit design, but there will be one minor change in turn 10 as the FIA asked for a larger run-off area for safety reasons. The FIA will hold an initial check around the first week of January, while the final inspection of the course will be held on Feb. 2, just four days before the event.